Foldable pails



July 17, 1956 H. G BAR 2,754,869

FOLDABLE FAILS Filed June 29, 1954 INVENTOR HENNING G. BARTELS UnitedStates Patent FOLDABLE PAILS Henning G. Bartels, Toronto, Ontario,Canada Application June 29, 1954, Serial No. 440,201

4. Claims. (Cl. lift-F48).

This invention relates to a foldable or collapsible pail or container.

Containers of a flexible material, such as plastic, have been used tohold- Water or other liquids in certain instances but their use has beenextremely limited because of their lack of stability.

For instance, it has not heretofore been practical to employ a fcldablecontainer or pail where it is desired to either carry the container bythe handle or to sit it down on a support surface.

It is the object of the present invention to provide a foldable pail orcontainer which will at the same time have a stability allowing it to becarried by the handle or set down without spilling of the contents.

Another important object is to devise a container as aforesaid whichwill be of sturdy and economical construction.

The principal feature of the invention resides in forming a foldingliquid container from a flexible pliable material with the containerbeing larger at the bottom than the top and employing the upwardpressure of the contained liquid to retain the container in its extendedposition.

in the preferred form of the invention the container is formed as thefrustrum of a cone.

Another important feature resides in providing a handle for thecontainer and employing a rigid stress-distributing ring in the upperedge of the container to transfer stress from the points of attachmentof the handle uniformly throughout the walls of the container, the ringin no way interfering with the collapsing of the container into a fiator planar shape.

Still another feature resides in the provision of a novel handlearrangement which can be employed for both carrying the container andretaining it in collapsed position.

These and other objects and features will become apparent with referenceto the accompanying drawings in which Figure l is a mid-verticalsectional view of a pail or container constructed in accordance with theinvention.

Figure 2 is a plan view of the container of Figure 1.

Figure 3 is a side elevational view showing the container in thecollapsed position.

Figure 4- is a perspective view showing an alternative embodiment of theinvention.

With reference to Figures 1 to 3 the container disclosed and generallydesignated at 1 is in the form of a conical pail preferably formed froma plastic material such as polyvinyl chloride or polyethylene or othermaterial of like characteristics.

In the preferred form of the invention illustrated the container isformed of a wall panel 2 made of a tapered blank rolled into a frustroconical shape. The bottom of the container or pail preferably comprisesa pair of circular panels 3 secured to the Wall panel 2 as at 4.Disposed between the panels 3 forming the upper and lower bottom wallsis a ring 5 of wire or other rigid reinforcing material. pouring handle6 and may have a card or sheet 7 included between the bottom panels andby employing material of the type described, which is transparent, thecard 7 may have imprinted thereon any advertising or instructionsdesired. The upper edge of the wall panel 2 is looped around a ring 3again of wire which forms a stress-distributing member to distributestress applied through the handle formation generally designated at 9throughout the flexible wall formed by the wall panel 2.

This handle formation comprises a pair of flexible straps 10 again of asuitable plastic material and the end portions of the straps as at 11are disposed: contiguous the ring 8 and extend above and below the ring.Separate securing strips 12 are disposed on the opposite side of thering member 8 and are secured to the straps ill for instance byelectronic welding above and below the ring 8 at opposite sides of. themouth of the container. The straps l0 carry co-operating snap fastenerelements 13 and 14 respectively to allow the straps to be releasablyinterlocked for carryin' the container and then released and fastenedacross the bottom of the container when it is in its collapsed andfolded condition of Figure 3.

In use the device can be collapsed and folded to bring the plane of thetop substantially into the plane of the bottom and the container securedin its collapsed position by means of the handle straps 10 as shown inFigure 3. When it is desired to use the device it is extended and whileit may not have sufficient stability to maintain its extended positionwhen empty the introduction of a liquid 15 imparts an outward pressureon the inwardly and upwardly tapering wall 2 to impart a force componentacting to prevent container collapse.

The container, with the liquid, can be carried as an ordinary pail andcan be set down on the ground or floor without danger of spilling of theliquid due to the action of the liquid above described in constrainingthe container to its extended or uncollapsed shape. The liquid may bepoured from the container by using the bottom handle 6 and if desired asuitable pouring spout may be provided such as indicated at 16 inconnection with the embodiment of the invention illustrated in Figure 4.

In the illustration of Figure 4 the device is shown as a truncatedpyramid with the wall panel 2 forming a pyramidal configuration.

Again ring-like members 5' and 8 may be employed for reinforcement andhandle formation 9' may be provided corresponding to the handle 9, alsoa bottom handle 6' may be provided for pouring.

It will be understood that a suitable closure for the container may alsobe provided if desired and in place of the double bottom 3-3 a singlethicker bottom layer may be employed if desired or the bottom might beformed as a rigid member if desired.

While the container is shown as formed of panels it will also beunderstood that it could be moulded for instance by spraying the insideof a suitable form or in any other suitable manner.

It will also be understood that various other modifications and detailchanges may be made by those skilled in the art without departing fromthe scope of the appended claims.

What I claim as my invention is:

1. In a foldable liquid container of a flexible pliable material, a sidewall panel formed into a tapered body, tapering from the upper edgedownwardly and outwardly, a continuous rigid member enclosed within theupper edge of said side wall panel, a pair of bottom wall panels havingdisposed therebetween and separate therefrom a continuous rigid member,the circumference of said latter The bottom may also include a rigidmember being substantially equal to the circumference of the lower edgeof said side wall panel, said pair of bottom panels being bonded attheir peripheral edges with the lower edge of said wall panel and handlemeans secured to the upper edge of said container.

2. A claim as in claim 1 in which said side wall panel is formed into afrusto-conical shape and said continuous rigid members are annular.

3. In a foldable liquid container formed of a flexible pliable materiala side wall formed into a frusto-conical shape, said container beingsubstantially larger at the bottom than at the top, a rigid ring-likemember embodied in the upper edge of said side wall, the bottom of saidcontainer being formed with double panels presenting upper and lowerwalls and a ring-like rigid member being disposed therebetween andhandle means secured to said upper edge of said side wall panel totransfer carrying stress through said ring-like member to said side Wallpanel.

4. In a foldable liquid container formed of a flexible pliable materiala side wall panel having a conical configuration, a base ofsubstantially greater circumference than the top, the upper edge of saidside wall panel incorporating a rigid ring-like member and a handle forsaid container, said handle comprising a strap formation the endportions of which lie contiguous said upper edge of said container onone side thereof, and securing members bridging said ring-like memberand secured to said handle above and below said ring-like member.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS1,202,085 Mitchell Oct. 24, 1916 1,225,511 Sexton May 8, 1917 1,691,905Gamble Nov. 13, 1928 2,334,410 Rubin Nov. 16, 1943 2,432,001 Fisler Dec.2, 1947 2,509,370 Hume May 30, 1950 2,664,131 Miller Dec. 29, 1953FOREIGN PATENTS 28,346 Great Britain Dec. 24, 1908

